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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



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THE 



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PENN SQUARE, 



IN THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA. 



DESCRIPTION OF THE BUILDINGS. 

STATISTICS AND PROGRESS OF THE WORK UP TO 
JANUARY i, 1881. 



THE BILL PROVIDING FOR THE ERECTION OF NEW PUBLIC BUILDINGS 
FOR THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA PASSED BOTH BRANCHES OF 
THE STATE LEGISLATURE IN APRIL, 1870, AND ON 
THE 5™ OF THE FOLLOWING AUGUST THE 
GOVERNOR AFFIXED HIS SIGNA- 
TURE THERETO. 




PRINTED FOR THE COMMISSIONERS. 



PHILADELPHIA 
1881. 






COMMISSIONERS 
^ov the Erection of the i'ublir ^uihlinfl.s'. 



THOMAS J. BARGER, 
WILLIAM BRICE, 
ISAAC S. CASSIN, 
JOSEPH L. CAVEN, 



SAMUEL \V. CATTELL. 
MAHLON H. DICKINSON, 
THOMAS E. GASKILL, 
JOHN L. HILL, 
WILLIAM S. STOKLEY. 



HIRAM MILLER. 
RICHARD PELTZ, 
SAMUEL C. PERKINS. 
GEORGE A. SMITH, 



OFFICERS. 

President— SAMUEL C. PERKINS. 

Secretary— FRANCIS DE HAES JANVIER. 

Treasurer— J. J. MARTIN. 

Solicitor— CHARLES H. T. COLLIS. 



Architect— JOHN McARTHUR, Jr. 

Assistants— JOHN ORD, Jr., THOMAS U. WALTER. 

Superintendent— WILLIAM C. McPHERSON. 



DIMENSIONS OF BUILDING. 



From North to South, 

" East to West, 
Area, .... 
Height of Main Tower, 
Width at Base, 

Centre of Clock Face, . 

Diameter of Clock Face, 
Height of Upper Balcony, 
Total Number of Rooms in Building, . 
Total Amount of Floor-room is 
Height of each centre Pavilion, 

" corner Towers, 

" II. i iement Story, 

" Principal Story, 

u Second Story, 

" 1 bird Story, centre Pavilions, 

Wings, . 

" " " Curtains, . 

" Attic of centre Pavilions, 

" Attic of corner Towers, 

" ( Irowning Statue, . 

" I i i l "ii centre Dornn 

" " comer Dorm< 



486 feet 6 inches. 
470 feet. 
4j acres. 
535 feet. 
90 feet. 

361 feet above pave- 
ment. 
20 feefT 
296 feet. 
520. 

14.3 acres. 

202 feet io : l inches, 
ifii feet. 

1 S feet 3J inches. 
33 feet 6 inches. 
3 5 feet 7 inches. 

26 feet 6 inches, 
24 feet 3 inches. 

; 5 inches. 
1 5 feet. 
1 ; feet 6 inches. 

it. 
1 7 feet 6 inches. 
1 2 feet 10 inches. 



COST. 
Total expenditures to January 1, 1881, $6,922,007 so. 



Description of the Buildings 



THE EXTERIOR. 

A tendency exists in the public mind to seek to classify every con- 
siderable architectural design under the head of some "order" or 
" style ;" but modern genius and taste deal so largely in original adapt- 
ations of classic and other forms that we often find no small difficulty 
in deciding under which, if any, of the heretofore established orders or 
styles many of the most important structures of the present day can 
properly be classed. 

The architecture of the New Public Buildings is of this character. 
It is essentially modern in its leading features, and presents a rich ex- 
ample of what is known by the generic term of the " Renaissance," 
modified and adapted to the varied and extensive requirements of a 
great American municipality. 

It is designed in the spirit of French art, while at the same time its 
adaptation of that florid and tasteful manner of building is free from 
servile imitation, either in ornamentation or in the ordonnance of its 
details. 

This immense architectural pile is located on the intersection of 
Broad and Market Streets, in the City of Philadelphia. It consists of 
a single building, under one roof, occupying, inclusive of the court-yard, 
an area of nearly 4^ acres. The horizontal dimensions of the structure 
are a square of 428 feet, with added projections for convenience and 
architectural effect, making its extreme length 470 feet from east to 
west, and 486J feet from north to south. 

The four fronts are similar in design. In the centre of each an en- 
trance pavilion, of 89 feet in width, rises to the height of 202 feet 10J 
inches, flanked by receding wings of 53 feet in length by 128 feet 10J 
inches elevation, and receding curtains 119 feet ij inches high and 65 
feet 6 inches long, terminating at each of the four corners of the build- 
ing with towers or pavilions of 51 feet square and 161 feet high. 



The whole exterior is bold and effective in outline and rich in detail, 
being elaborated with highly ornate columns, pilasters, pediments, cor- 
nices, enriched windows, and other appropriate adornments, wrought in 
artistic forms, expressing American ideas and developing American 
genius. 

The main entrances open through the centre pavilions on the four 
fronts, affording passages for pedestrians up and down Broad and Market 
Streets, directly through the basement story. Each of these entrances 
is 1 8 feet wide and 36 feet high, finished with ornamented archivolts 
and richly sculptured spandrels. 

In addition to the main entrances through the central pavilions, there 
are two in each of the four corner pavilions, communicating with each 
floor by broad and easy flights of stone stairways extending from the 
pavement line to the roof. 

The basement story is 18 feet 3 J inches high, and stands entirely 
above the line of the pavement. Its exterior is composed of fine white 
granite of massive proportions, forming a fitting base for the vast super- 
structure it supports. 

The exterior of the building, above the basement, includes a principal 
story of 33 J feet, and a second story of 35 feet 7 inches ; the centre 
pavilions having each an additional story of 26 feet 6 inches surmounted 
by an attic of 15 feet, crowned with a massive dormer window in 
marble, of 37 feet in height, flanked by marble caryatides 17 feet 6 
inches high between cap and base, or 21 feet 6 inches over all. 

The third story of the wings is 24 feet 3 inches high to the top of the 
marble dormers, while the roof structure, rising with gradual curve from 
the stylobate, gives an additional height of 17 feet 3 inches, making the 
full exterior height of this story 41 feet 6 inches. 

The third story of the curtains, which connect the wings of the centre 
pavilions with the corner pavilions, is 20 feet 5 inches high to the top 
of the marble dormers, including the height of the stylobate, which is 5 
feet ; while the roof structure, rising from the stylobate with a gradual 
inclination, gives an additional height of 1 1 feet 4 inches, making the 
full exterior height of this story upon the curtains 31 feet 9 inches. 

All the dormers in the building project from the roof structure in 
continuation of the perpendicular line of the elevation. 

The corner pavilions have each an attic of 13 feet 6 inches, termin- 
ated by dormers 27 feet 9 inches high, with caryatic supporters 12 feet 
10 inches in height between the cap and base. 



The entire superstructure, including all its mural embellishments, is 
composed of white marble from the quarries at Lee, in Berkshire 
county, Massachusetts. 

A court-yard of 186 feet north and south by 220 feet east and west 
is located in the centre of the structure, which, together with two 
additional open areas, each measuring 45 feet north and south by 69 feet 
east and west, afford abundance of light and air to all the adjacent por- 
tions of the building. The principal stories facing the court-yard are, 
for the most part, each divided by a mezzanine or half story, affording 
increased space for smaller rooms. 

From the north side of the central court-yard rises a grand tower of 
90 feet square at the base, gracefully falling off at each story until it 
becomes, at the spring of the dome (which is 395 feet 2 inches above 
the level of the court-yard), an octagon of 56 feet in diameter, tapering 
to the height of 103 feet 10 inches, where it is crowned with a statue 
of the founder of Pennsylvania, 36 feet in height, thus completing the 
extraordinary altitude of 535 feet, making it the highest artificial con- 
struction in the world, while at the same time it possesses the elements 
of firmness and stability equal in degree to those of any known struc- 
ture of like character. 

The foundations of this tower are laid on a bed of solid concrete, eight 
feet thick and ninety feet square, at the depth of 20 feet below the sur- 
face of the ground, and its walls, which at the base are 22 feet in thick- 
ness, are built of dressed dimension stones, weighing from two to five 
tons each. 



THE INTERIOR. 

The entire structure will contain 520 rooms, affording ample, con- 
venient, and stately accommodations for the immediate wants of all 
the Departments of the City Government included under the heads of 
Legislative, Executive, and Judicial ; besides which, an amount of sur- 
plus room remains for use in the classification and preservation of the 
archives of the city, for storage and for increased accommodations, 
which will undoubtedly be required from time to time by the natural 
increase of the public business and the accumulation of the public 
records. 

The actual floor room included within the walls amounts to 631,438 
superficial feet, or 14^ acres, inclusive of the sub-basement, which ex- 
tends under the whole structure. 



The several stories will be approached by four large elevators, located 
at the intersections of the leading corridors, so as to facilitate the inter- 
course of the citizens with the public offices, courts, and other branches 
of the Government. In addition to these means of approach there will 
be large and convenient stairways in the four corner pavilions and a 
grand staircase in each of the centre pavilions, on the north, south, and 
east fronts. 

Every room in the building will be well lighted, warmed, and venti- 
lated, upon a thorough, effective, and approved system, and every part 
of the structure will be absolutely firepoof. 

The heating and ventilating apparatus for the eastern half of the work 
is now virtually completed, and in operation. The system adopted to 
accomplish these objects consists in drawing a given quantity of pure 
external air from the court-yard into passages 15 feet wide and 11 feet 
high, constructed for the purpose, under all the corridors of the base- 
ment story, and forcing it, by means of a steam fan, among and around 
stacks of radiators heated by steam boilers, into all the rooms and 
corridors of the basement and superstructure of the eastern half of the 
building. 

The fan is located in the southern portion of the sub-basement. It 
has a disc of 12 feet in diameter, with 16 wings on each side, and is 
capable of delivering 855 cubic feet of air per each revolution. It 
is driven by a horizontal engine of 20 horse power, and admits of being 
run up to 120 revolutions per minute, which will deliver throughout 
the eastern half of the building at the rate of 102,564 cubic feet of 
air per minute. 

The warm air is generated by 6 half-tubular boilers, 60 inches in 
diameter and 14 feet long, each containing 43 four-inch tubes, and a 
steam dome 30 inches in diameter and 30 inches high. The boilers are 
each 65.^ horse power, making an aggregate of horse power amounting 
to 394.I. They are set in nests of three, and the pipes and connections 
are so arranged that each boiler may be used independently or in con- 
nection, as may be required. 

This process of heating produces a forced ventilation, inasmuch as 
the air introduced into the rooms of necessity displaces an equal quan- 
tity of vitiated air, which escapes through ventilating registers open- 
ing near the floor in every room, and connecting with large exhaust 
shafts which discharge at the height of 170 feet above the level of the 
ground. 

None of the apparatus for heating and ventilating the western half of 
the building is yet provided for. 



The following materials have been used in the foundations and in the 
portions of the superstructure already executed, to wit: — 

80,325 cubic feet of concrete foundations. 
824,865 cubic feet of foundation stone, from Conshohocken, Pa. 
190,703 cubic feet of dressed granite, in the exterior of the base- 
ment and sub-basement, from Concord, N. H., and 
Blue Hill, Maine. 
467,086.05 cubic feet of marble, from Lee, Mass. 
73,739.05 cubic feet of buff and blue sandstone, from Ohio. 
2,552 cubic feet red sandstone, from Hummelstown, Pa. 
14,360 cubic feet of polished granite, from the quarries on the 
Magaguadavic River, near St. George, N.B., and 
from Quincy and Cape Ann, Mass. 
8,772 cubic feet of hammered granite, from Concord, N. H. 
12,500 cubic feet of polished marble, from Pennsylvania and 
from Rutland, Vt. 
46,210,150 hard bricks. 
171,300 pressed bricks. 
135,000 white bricks. 
85,931 enamelled bricks. 
1201 tons 1679 lbs. of wrought iron beams for floors and roofs. 

74 tons 667 lbs. of wrought iron clamps, tie-rods, bolts, braces, com- 
pound girders, &c. 
757 tons of cast iron ceilings, lintels, plates, askewbacks, iron 
bricks, cast iron door and window trimmings, &c. 
23,750 square feet of bond slate. 

The excavations for the cellars and the foundations required the 
removal of 145,870 cubic yards of earth. 

The preparation of the ground for excavations involved the change 
of the gas pipes, and of the two water mains of 20 and 30 inches in 
diameter, from their course through the centre of Broad Street, to a 
circuit around the site of the buildings. The tracks of the West 
Philadelphia Passenger Railway were changed from the centre of Market 
Street and laid around the site ; and the Freight Railroad owned by the 
city, and which ran through Market Street, was entirely removed after 
it had ceased to be of use in the transportation of materials for the 
buildings. These changes involved a heavy outlay, which was charged 
to the Commissioners. 



The entire ornamentation of the stone work of the exterior, and also 
the decorative work of the dressed stone for interior finish, has been 
carved in this city from models specially prepared by Alexander M. 
Calder and his assistant, James G. C. Hamilton. A large room in the 
basement on the western side of the southern entrance has been used as 
a modelling room since October, 1877. 

The Supreme Court of the State has had its accommodations since 
January 1, 1877 (including the Prothonotary's Office), on the first story 
of the south front, occupying all the rooms on the south side of the 
corridor west of the centre pavilion. The addresses delivered at the 
opening of the session, Monday, January 1, 1877, are reported in Vol. 
82 of Pennsylvania State Reports (1 Norris). 

The Highway Department was opened for business in the New 
Buildings December 10, 1878, occupying rooms on the first story of 
the eastern front, south of the central pavilion. 

The Survey Department removed July 1, 1879, to rooms south of 
the central pavilion, on the same floor and front with the Highway 
Department. 

The Head-Quarters of the Division, and of the First Brigade of the 
National Guard of Pennsylvania, were provided with convenient rooms 
adjoining those intended for the Department of Markets and City 
Property, and on November I, 1879, Major-General John F. Hartranft 
and Brigadier-General George R. Snowden, commanding the Division 
and Brigade, took possession of their respective quarters. 

Since January 1, 1 880, the following Departments have removed to 
rooms fitted up for their accommodation in the new buildings : 

Boiler Inspectors, January 17, 1880. 
Board of Revision of Taxes, March 1, 1880. 
Markets and City Property, April 21, 1880. 
Receiver of Taxes, May 3, 1880. 

It is expected d ring the year 1 88 1 to complete the rooms for the 
City Treasurer, City Controller, City Commissioners, and Commission- 
ers <>f Fail mount Paik. 

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 




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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 

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014 314 8646 






